Knoxville Hospital and Clinics CEO Kevin Kincaid says he supports the expansion of Medicaid in Iowa. As part of the Affordable Care Act, states have the option to expand that coverage to those who are younger than 65 and have an income of around $15,000. After the federal government covers the costs for the first three years, states would slowly become more accountable for those dollars, with their share being capped at 10% after a number of years.

Kincaid explains they already are caring for many of those individuals that would be covered by expansion, but write it off as bad debt or charity care currently. If those individuals were covered by Medicate, he estimates it could mean as much as $300,000 additional extra payments. Kincaid says that though he understands concerns about governmental spending, these Medicaid dollars are going to be spent. He says it’s short-sighted for the state to not accept those federal funds and will put the state at a disadvantage against neighboring states like Minnesota or Illinois.